How Much Does It Cost to Run a Gas Dryer?
Short answer: about $0.039 a day and $1.17 a month, or $0.052 for each hour it runs at full power, at the 2025 US average electricity rate. That is for a 300 W gas dryer running 0.75 hours a day with a 100% duty cycle. Change the state and hours below for your own number.
Updated Nov 8, 2026
Quick answer
Quick answer, US average (17.3 c/kWh)
About $1.17 a month
The same use costs $0.80 a month in North Dakota and $2.74 in Hawaii.
- Per hour
- $0.052
- at 300 W
- Per day
- $0.039
- 0.75 h, 0.22 kWh
- Per month
- $1.17
- 30 days
- Per year
- $14.21
- 365 days at the same use
Your state, your hours
Per hour
$0.052
Per day
$0.039
Per month
$1.17
Per year
$14.21
Gas Dryer at 300 W, 0.75 h a day, 30 days a month, 100% duty cycle: 6.7 kWh a month. Using the 2025 US average of 17.3 cents/kWh.
Want to change the watts or duty cycle too? Open the full calculator.
What decides the cost of running a gas dryer
A gas dryer runs on two fuels. Natural gas or propane makes the heat, and electricity turns the drum, runs the blower and powers the controls. The electric part is small: about 300 W for the motor, plus a hot surface igniter that draws a few hundred watts for under a minute each time the burner lights. At the default of 45 minutes a day, that is 0.225 kWh, about 4 cents of electricity per load. The gas is the larger cost. A typical burner is rated around 20,000 to 25,000 BTU an hour and cycles on and off, so a load uses roughly 0.1 to 0.2 therm, about 15 to 30 cents at the US average of $1.48 per therm.
Altogether a load in a gas dryer costs about 20 to 35 cents, against about 52 cents of electricity for the electric dryer on this site, which uses about 3 kWh a load. That gap is why gas dryers are cheaper to run in nearly every state where gas is available, and why a heat pump dryer, at roughly half the electricity of a standard electric model, is the only electric option that comes close.
Everything that shortens a cycle cuts both bills at once. A moisture sensor that stops the dryer when the clothes are dry, a washer that spins at high speed, and a clean lint screen all reduce burner time and motor time together. A long or crushed vent run is the most common problem: moist air leaves slowly, cycles stretch, and lint builds up where it can become a fire hazard.
A gas dryer also cannot run without power. The good news is that it plugs into a normal 120 V outlet and needs only about 300 W, so a plug-in meter can measure its electric side and a modest power station or generator can run it in an outage. The meter will not show the gas.
How to cut it
- Use the moisture sensor or auto-dry setting instead of a timed cycle.
- Run the washer's highest spin speed so less water reaches the dryer.
- Clean the lint screen every load and the vent duct yearly.
- Dry loads back to back while the drum is still warm.
Gas Dryer cost by state
Monthly cost for 300 W, 0.75 h a day, 100% duty cycle, 30 days, sorted cheapest to most expensive. Pick your state above to highlight it.
| Rank | State | Cents/kWh | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 11.81 | $0.80 |
| 2 | Idaho | 11.82 | $0.80 |
| 3 | Nebraska | 12.34 | $0.83 |
| 4 | Louisiana | 12.57 | $0.85 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 12.84 | $0.87 |
| 6 | Montana | 12.98 | $0.88 |
| 7 | Utah | 13.07 | $0.88 |
| 8 | Washington | 13.11 | $0.88 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 13.12 | $0.89 |
| 10 | Nevada | 13.15 | $0.89 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 13.18 | $0.89 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 13.24 | $0.89 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 13.38 | $0.90 |
| 14 | Wyoming | 13.38 | $0.90 |
| 15 | Missouri | 13.49 | $0.91 |
| 16 | Iowa | 13.72 | $0.93 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 14.02 | $0.95 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 14.03 | $0.95 |
| 19 | Kansas | 14.56 | $0.98 |
| 20 | Georgia | 14.73 | $0.99 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 14.96 | $1.01 |
| 22 | New Mexico | 15.08 | $1.02 |
| 23 | Florida | 15.24 | $1.03 |
| 24 | Virginia | 15.28 | $1.03 |
| 25 | Arizona | 15.32 | $1.03 |
| 26 | Oregon | 15.37 | $1.04 |
| 27 | West Virginia | 15.41 | $1.04 |
| 28 | Texas | 15.47 | $1.04 |
| 29 | Minnesota | 15.82 | $1.07 |
| 30 | Colorado | 15.85 | $1.07 |
| 31 | Alabama | 16.10 | $1.09 |
| 32 | Indiana | 16.23 | $1.10 |
| 33 | Ohio | 16.96 | $1.14 |
| 34 | Delaware | 17.13 | $1.16 |
| 35 | Illinois | 17.69 | $1.19 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 18.16 | $1.23 |
| 37 | Pennsylvania | 19.30 | $1.30 |
| 38 | Maryland | 19.48 | $1.31 |
| 39 | Michigan | 20.01 | $1.35 |
| 40 | District of Columbia | 21.94 | $1.48 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 22.63 | $1.53 |
| 42 | Vermont | 22.92 | $1.55 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 24.56 | $1.66 |
| 44 | Alaska | 26.09 | $1.76 |
| 45 | New York | 26.39 | $1.78 |
| 46 | Maine | 27.78 | $1.88 |
| 47 | Connecticut | 29.38 | $1.98 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 29.46 | $1.99 |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 30.48 | $2.06 |
| 50 | California | 32.54 | $2.20 |
| 51 | Hawaii | 40.59 | $2.74 |
Rates: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, annual average residential price, 2025 (eia.gov). Full list on the electricity rates by state page.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a gas dryer per load?+
About 20 to 35 cents per load. Electricity for the motor is about 0.225 kWh, roughly 4 cents at 17.3 cents per kWh, and gas is about 0.1 to 0.2 therm, roughly 15 to 30 cents at the US average of $1.48 per therm.
How much electricity does a gas dryer use?+
About 0.225 kWh per 45 minute load. The drum motor and blower draw about 300 W, and 0.3 kW x 0.75 hours is 0.225 kWh, about 4 cents at the national average rate.
How much does it cost to run a gas dryer per month?+
About $1.17 of electricity plus about $4.50 to $9 of gas for one load a day. 0.225 kWh x 30 days is 6.75 kWh, about $1.17, and 30 loads at 0.1 to 0.2 therm is 3 to 6 therms at $1.48.
How much does it cost to run a gas dryer per year?+
About $14 of electricity and about $54 to $108 of gas at one load a day. The electric part is 82 kWh a year at 17.3 cents per kWh, and the gas part is about 36 to 73 therms at $1.48.
Gas dryer vs electric dryer: which is cheaper to run?+
Gas, in most places. A gas dryer load costs about 20 to 35 cents, while an electric dryer at about 3 kWh a load costs about 52 cents at the national average rate. A heat pump dryer, at about half the electricity of a standard electric dryer, costs about the same as gas.
How many watts does a gas dryer use?+
About 300 W while running, with a start-up surge near 900 W. The hot surface igniter adds a few hundred watts for under a minute each time the burner lights. It runs on a standard 120 V outlet.
Does a gas dryer use a lot of electricity?+
No. It uses about a thirteenth of the electricity of an electric dryer, about 0.225 kWh per load against about 3 kWh, because the heat comes from gas.
How many BTUs does a gas dryer use?+
Most residential gas dryers have burners rated around 20,000 to 25,000 BTU an hour. Because the burner cycles on and off, a typical load uses about 10,000 to 20,000 BTU, which is 0.1 to 0.2 therm.
Can a gas dryer run on a generator or power station?+
Yes. It needs about 300 W running and 900 W at start, so a power station with a 1,000 W or larger inverter can run it. A 1,000 Wh station covers about 2.8 hours of drying (850 / 300), about three or four loads, while the gas supplies the heat.
Does a gas dryer work without electricity?+
No. The motor, igniter and controls all need power, so a gas dryer stops in an outage unless you run it from a generator or power station. It plugs into a normal 120 V outlet, so it is easy to power.
Marcus Reed
Founder and Editor, CrunchYourDollars
Marcus Reed builds the sizing tools on CrunchYourDollars. He is a software engineer with a long-running PC hardware and power supply habit, which is where the watts, watt-hours and surge math on this site comes from. Product specs are pulled from manufacturer data sheets, electricity rates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and water chemistry rules from the Water Quality Association. He is not a licensed electrician or plumber: the tools show the math and the matching models so you can make the call, and anything involving your electrical panel should be checked by a licensed pro.
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